The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) leadership has threatened a national indefinite strike if the Federal Government (FG) allows another increase in the price of petrol during ongoing negotiations with the government.
Since President Bola Tinubu declared on May 29 that “fuel subsidy is gone,” the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has raised pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), or petrol. Prices rose from roughly ₦185 to around ₦500, and then again in July, reaching ₦617.
The NLC issued the warning during its President, Joe Ajaero’s, address to the African Alliance of Trade Unions Executive Meeting in Abuja on Monday.
“As we’re here now, they’re contemplating increasing the pump price of petroleum products. And the Ministry of Labour, for some time now, will only go to the Ministry of Justice to come up with a so-called injunction to hold the hands of labour not to respond,” Ajaero said.
“But let me say this, Nigerian workers will not give any notice if we have not addressed the “consequences of the last two increases and we wake up from our sleep to hear that they have tampered with it again — the prices.”
The meeting, which included Labour executives from Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa, also cautioned the ECOWAS leadership against deploying the military to Niger Republic to restore democratic order.
